This book is a lavishly illustrated compendium of pre-Classic figurines of Mesoamerica, arranged according to chronology, geography, and figurine type. The interpretation is aesthetic and intuitive rather than archaeological. Many of the specimens come from private collections and knowledge of provenance is scanty or nonexistent. The present work will probably enhance the commercial value of such figurines and encourage further looting of archaeological sites, though that is certainly not the authors’ intent.
“Early,” “Middle,” and “Late” Xochipala are defined by stylistic criteria that assume naturalism must necessarily degenerate.
Farfetched interpretations abound. The presence of a cross is held to indicate Olmec influence even when chronology seems opposed (see p. 201). Red bands on the face of a figurine “suggest tears” (p. 100) and rain symbolism (why not face paint, or blood and sacrifice?). Simple diamonds (p. 202) might represent either snakes or clouds, but certainly rain. A woman with a child “could symbolize rebirth and the continuation of life after death” (p. 99). Why she couldn’t simply symbolize motherly love, if she must be made a symbol, is unclear. The interpretations seem to derive from analogies with other areas, in the light of Pratt and Gay’s belief that Mesoamerican figurines derive ultimately from a Palaeolithic cult of the dead (apparently through Japan and Ecuador).
They conclude that figurine-making “was confined to ethnic groups in which the white blood strain was either dominant or at least present to a meaningful degree” (p. 262). The suggestion is made with assurance for the Old World and with more hesitation for Mesoamerica. This apparently major conclusion does not seem to depend in any significant way on data presented in the study.
The descriptions, stylistic analyses, and parallels that are given will be very helpful to archaeologists and art historians even if they do not find the interpretations convincing.
